1. IFAD & land governance Harold Liversage, Land Tenure Adviser, IFAD h.liversage@ifad.org h.liversage@ifad.org Objectives of the presentation: Provide an overview of IFAD and what it does. Identify the role IFAD is and could play in supporting land governance.

2. What IFAD is and does. The International Fund for Agricultural Development: a specialized agency of the UN, established in 1977. Its mission is to enable and empower the rural poor to overcome poverty. It mainly supports governments to develop and implement rural poverty reduction programmes through low interest loans but also provides grants mainly to CSOs/private sector to strengthen technical & institutional capacities. Emphasis on strengthening the roles of CSOs, in particular CBOs and FOs. Emphasis on partnerships with other development agencies. What IFAD says about land governance Land tenure security: The rules and norms that govern how, when and where people access land. Land access and tenure security are central to rural poverty reduction. Land is one of the main assets that poor rural people have but it is not just an economic asset. It also has political, social and cultural importance. Equitable and secure access to land and natural resources for poor women and men is one of our corporate strategic objectives.

3. What IFAD is doing to strengthen land governance. Perhaps not enough but more than we realise. Has included support for:  land policy formulation;  land redistribution, (state-led & market assisted);  securing customary rights - collective and individual;  strengthening decentralized land administration;  strengthening the links between tenure security and SLM;  enhancing access to CPRs through multiple user arrangements;  improving access to rangelands by pastoralists;  equitable access to irrigated land;  land conflict resolution;  enhancing women’s access and tenure security;  post-settlement support services; and  finding alternatives to a reliance on land. A founding member and host the Secretariat of the ILC. We provide support to Farmers Organisations to engage in policy dialogue on land issues. Supported the FAO-hosted ICARRD & we are supporting the AUC, UNECA, AfDB-led process of developing Africa-wide land policy guidelines. Developed a set of land indicators, being used by MCC.

4. Lessons learnt on integrating LTS into poverty reduction programmes. Strengthening the link between land tenure security and other areas of rural development is essential.  Not addressing LTS undermines the impact of interventions in other areas.  Addressing LTS on its own is not sufficient for rural poverty reduction. Modest investments in strengthening LTS can have a significant impact, especially when integrated with other activities. There are no blue-print solutions. There is a need for improved lesson learning and dialogue between stakeholders. Linking LTS to improved land and natural resource management and to local participatory development planning is one important way of addressing LTS. Scaling up pro-poor approaches is one of the main challenges.

5. Positioning IFAD – SWOT Analysis. Strengths. Our mandate – targeted finances for pro-poor rural development. Some flexibility to invest in innovation and risk-taking. High level of government ownership of support provided. Emphasis on strengthening the role of civil society. Weaknesses. Uneven understanding and commitment in-house to mainstreaming LTS related activities – issue is considered too political and complex by some. Limited in-country presence (but this is being addressed). Opportunities. Potential for integrating LTS into rural poverty reduction strategies and programmes that we support. Threats. Uneven understanding of and commitment to mainstreaming LTS activities of Ministries we normally work with.

6. Way forward for strengthening our role Produce a corporate policy and operational guidelines – this will indicate a corporate commitment but is not enough. Strengthen our in-county presence through country programme teams and direct supervision of projects and programmes. Continue to support dialogue between various stakeholders at country and regional levels. Continue supporting the strengthening of advocacy by CS. Strengthen our lesson learning and dialogue in-house and with others. Support the development of land indicators as a tool for assessment and dialogue. Take stock of existing initiatives by governments, civil society and international development agencies. Strengthen partnerships with others: identify comparative advantages and complementarities and pilot collaboration.  We have started doing this with some, for example: in integrating activities into projects with MCC (AD2M, Madagascar) and WB/FAO (MOSAP?, Angola) and also lesson learning and policy dialogue with UNDP, FAO, UN HABITAT, the ILC Secretariat and other ILC members and partners, the AUC, UNECA and AfDB.